The German leader eats a meal with Gertrud Deetz - the wife of Gauleiter Albert Forster, at the Berghof, Hitler's estate in Upper Bavaria in the late 1930s. Gertrude did not hear about her husband's death in 1949 until 1954

Hitler (hands on hips) admires his new car, which was presented by the manufacturer Ferdinand Porsche. The Fuhrer did not like to drive himself and had a chauffeur

In one series of pictures from 1939, Hitler is shown admiring his 50th birthday present - a specially designed convertible VW, which was given to him by Ferdinand Porsche.

He received the glossy black automobile at his Eagle's Nest home in the Alps. The mountain-based chalet was built as a retreat for Hitler and a place for him to entertain visiting dignitaries.

In another set Hitler is seen laughing at a Christmas party in 1941. By this point over 43,000 British civilians had been killed in German bombing raids.

The photographs were taken by Hugo Jaeger, who had privileged access to the Fuhrer during those tumultuous years. Jaeger was one of the early adopters of colour photography and created clear, evocative images.

Unlike the Nazi leader's main photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, Jaeger took pictures both of private events and huge propaganda spectacles.

Left: Hitler at a party reception at the Fuhrerbau Right: Adolf Hitler, wearing an Arbeitsfront cap, aboard the KDF Ship Robert Ley on its maiden voyage with Inge Ley (Robert Ley's wife) in 1939. German workers were offered free cruises through the 'Strength through Joy' scheme

Following the Allied victory in 1945 Mr Jaeger packed his transparencies into 12
glass jars and buried them on the outskirts of Munich.

He finally retrieved them in 1955 and restored the 2,000 photos in a bank vault. In 1965 he sold them to LIFE magazine, who have since only published a fraction of the extensive collection.

It is unclear what happened to Mr Jaeger after this time - the last evidence of the photographer is a black and white image in Life magazine dated 1970.

Left: Hitler shakes hands with his official photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann at the Reichs Chancellory in Berlin shortly after midnight on April 20, 1939. Right: Sharing a moment with an unidentified woman